Note: I'm taking a break from writing Morning Reflections during the week after Christmas. Next MR will be Monday, January 2, 2012.

Merry Christmas (Lowell)

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, speaks at the circumcision of his son. The words from Luke's gospel are familiar ones -- used as a canticle in worship for centuries, available in the liturgy of Episcopal Church both for the Daily Office and for the Eucharist.

I'm struck by the words, "By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

It seems a powerful prayer for this time of life. I find it resonates with my deepest yearnings for our nation and people during dark times of fear, division and abuse of power. I am looking for the dawn from on high to break upon us and show us light and direction toward peace. Not just peace that is the absence of conflict, but the wider peace that is expressed so evocatively by the Hebrew word "shalom."

The need for God's dawning light is a daily need in each life. We all sit in some form of darkness. We all live in the shadow of death, not only the inevitable end of our earthly lives but also all of the ways life is threatened, diminished, minimized.

Part of the church's invitation to the discipline of Daily Morning Prayer is the experience of joining centuries of dawnings through the word of scripture, canticle and prayer, bringing light from on high and guiding our feet into the way of shalom.

We join Zechariah in prayer this day. "By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." May this Christmas be the dawning of that light in the darkness which guides us into the way of peace.

Lowell

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

There is something satisfying about the fact that the Church's feast of St. Thomas happens on or near the winter solstice for us in the northern hemisphere. At the end of the longest night, there is a turning point. The darkness will go no further. Light, warmth and new life renew their promise. It is still dark, but the progression has changed. Hope arises. We will continue to live and grow.

It is a holy moment. Wikipedia lists 39 various winter celebrations that have some connection with the new light, new life, or some form of reversal. The Newgrange prehistoric monument in Ireland was built around 3200 BCE oriented toward the rising sun on the winter solstice, and Stonehenge was begun not too many years afterward.

The story of Thomas is a story of darkness turning to light. Thomas did not participate in the Easter visions of his friends. While the other disciples rejoiced because they had experienced something that convinced them of Jesus' resurrection, Thomas remained traumatized by grief. His consciousness was haunted by the very real memory of the wounds of nail and spear. He could not be soothed from the stories of others. In order to be healed, he needed something as real as the tragedy he had experienced.

Jesus honored Thomas' grief and his authenticity. Jesus gave to Thomas a special visitation, offering to Thomas just the kind of experience that he needed so the meaning of those traumatic wounds would no longer be painful, but inspiring of worship.

The reading from 1 Peter assigned for Morning Prayer on Thomas' day is a glorious exultation of the hope of promise Christ gives us through resurrection. "By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials." (3b-6)

We also read Job's response to his encounter with God in the whirlwind. "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you." (42:5)

In the darkness of grief and trauma, when nights are longest and life is cold, we ask of God some hope that is as real as our pain and loss. We wait -- like Thomas; like the cold, dark earth -- for the sign of hope. Thomas is our patron when we are in that lonesome place.

Lowell

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Traditionally many religions including Christianity have used feminine imagery to speak of God's Spirit and God's Wisdom in the world. The Hebrews used the word Sophia to personify the creative, active presence of God's Wisdom-Spirit within creation.

Some people will imagine the presence of that Spirit within us, at the center of our being, a few inches behind our belly button -- in a place that is deeper than thought, close to the heart yet even deeper than emotion. Spiritual directors have encouraged those on the spiritual journey to listen and to be open to God's direction within, to the prompting of Sophia, Wisdom, Spirit. That prompting is often accessed through another feminine resource, our intuition. Intuitive openness and acceptance of the Spirit's yearning for us is an ancient path for God's creative activity. God honors us by inviting us into cooperation with what God is doing, allowing us to be co-creators with God's Spirit in the new birth of God's blessing.

One of the things people will say over and over is that God is full of surprises. What God is up to is truly unpredictable. Another thing people will say is that God comes to us through our weaknesses, often using our most frightening life-events to announce a new beginning.

We look at what happened to a young peasant girl in Galilee. She found herself inconveniently pregnant. It was a pregnancy that could cause scandal and would probably ruin her plans for her future. But she experienced a message from God so powerful that it seemed personified. The messenger first told her that she was not condemned, but favored; that God loved her and blessed her, as odd as that seemed under the circumstances. And something about the messenger and the message took away her fear. Perfect love always casts out fear. She listened from deep within her. "God favors you. Do not be afraid."

From her depths she answered: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

When I imagine the Annunciation to Mary, I imagine something happening right below the belly button, in the very center of her being, in that intuitive place where we experience Sophia-Wisdom-Spirit, and where God invites us to be co-creators to cooperate in what God is doing.

Mary is not the only one pregnant with the gestating birth of God's being in the world. Each of us carries God's work within us. God's Wisdom speaks gently at the center of our own vulnerability saying, "You have favor with God. Do not be afraid. Listen."

Lowell

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

I am more like Zechariah than I am like Mary. When the angel visits with an unexpected insight of peculiar wonder, I am much more likely to ask, "How will I know that this is so?" than I am to respond, "Let it be with me according to your word."

I am a natural doubter. I tend to hedge my bets and need some corroborative evidence before I commit. Even when I've tilted to a place where I mostly believe something, a large portion of me stays in abeyance, nurturing a comfortable doubt, just in case. I don't jump in with both feet, not at first.

Like Zechariah, it can take me a long time for me to find my voice. When I first encounter a new wonder -- an insight that challenges the way I used to think -- my heart quickens, and I am intrigued. But before I commit completely, I need to think about it some more, investigate and wonder. I need to live with the subject for a while. I tend to keep my mouth shut for a time, trying to figure out the implications and angles.

I'm not like Mary. I need some time to settle in before I can exclaim "Here am I the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." I might think to myself, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior," but it will take me a whi.e before I'll say it out loud. I'll worry about the revolutionary consequences of some thought that threatens to turn things around. I'll trouble over the implications for a bit before I'm willing to sing publicly "He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones." I'd like to avoid all of that discomfort if I can. It just takes me a little while longer to get used to my world being changed.

But after I've lived with something for a while. After I've let it warm in the crockpot, after it has brewed and seeped with a few more ingredients that can flavor and enhance my overall understanding, I can find my voice. I can, like Zechariah, name the truth I have come to know. Eventually I can stand up to the questions -- "None of your relatives has this name" -- and I can make my defense. Maybe because I was an English major in college, sometimes I can even find some satisfying words to speak of the new truth: "By the tender mercy of our God the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." I've got a gift to give the church also. Sometimes the radical implications of the gospel sound better in a soft, Southern accent.

Yet, I envy the "Mary-types." I admire those who seize the wonder with such instant singleminded grace and power. I wish I could jump like the shepherds who run so quickly when the angels sing a new heavenly hymn. I'll watch silently from the shadows to see what they stir up, to test whether my intuition stays vibrant, as they proclaim what I suspect might be so. When I finally speak up, I feel a bit apologetic toward those who took the brunt of the first heat. But we are cousins. We are family -- Mary and Zechariah.

We all have our parts to play -- natural believers and natural doubters. We are who we are, and God's messengers visit us all. I thank the Mary's who wait patiently for us Zechariah's to find our voice. The Holy Family welcomes both the enthusiastic shepherds and the ponderous, slow magi with their calculations and unnecessary gifts. It's all good. We're just different. Different temperaments; different timing. But for God, a thousand years is like a day. And God will have God's way.

Lowell

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

As I live in my 60th year, I recognize that I have rarely been as troubled by the spirit and direction of my nation as I am now. We seem mired in conflict and dominated by those who have made a pact with sectarianism and meanness. I long for a society that shares the vision of the prophets.

"The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another." (Zech. 7:8-10) In other words, create a just society.

Zechariah looks at his people's history and sees that when they "refused to listen, ...great wrath came from the Lord of hosts, ...and a pleasant land was made desolate." A decisive portion of our nation today seems to be determined to follow that destructive path.

But Zechariah also has a vision of restoration, when "old men and old women shall again sit in the streets..., each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts?" (8:4-6)

We know our Biblical history. We know that the rulers and the people failed to listen to the prophets over and over. There are always consequences to our pride and stubbornness. But God always follows judgment with redemption. The final chapter of history is always God's act of restoration and reconciliation.

So in the meantime, the best we can do is side with the prophets. Work for a just society. Proclaim in the name of the Lord true judgments; kindness and mercy; compassion toward the vulnerable, alien and poor; and open-heartedness. If we live in a time like so many others when a nation refuses to listen, we will suffer with our neighbors, working and actively waiting for God's work of restoration.

Lowell

Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link:
-- Morning Reflection Podcasts

About Morning Reflections"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.